Toy gun



Aug. 6,1946. Q s. BINKS I 2,405,,1

To: mm

q Filed March 15, 1945 S uire "12 Patented Aug. 6, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENTv OFFICE TOY GUN Squire Binks, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Application arch 15, 1945, Serial No. 582,898

Claims.

as machine guns, Tommy guns and Bren guns,

and has for its object primarily to provide a toy gun of this character adapted to simulate the automatic feeding of the bullets through the gun by trigger operation.

A further salient object of the invention is to provide sound-producing apparatus adapted to represent the discharge of the ammunition as it is fed through the gun.

Another object is to produce a gun of this class in which the feeding of the ammunition and the production of the sound of the explosions of the successive rounds are brought about by a mechanism driven by a clockwork of the spring-actuated type.

A feature of the mechanism is that a trigger is devised to control the same in a manner such that the firing operation may be continuou or sporadic as desired. A further feature of the mechanism is that it comprises an escapement device adapted to vibrate a striker which impinges a sound board or comparable element by which sound'is emitted representing the rapid fire of the gun.

A still further object of the invention is to produce a novel and attractive toy of this character in which there is simulated the automatic feeding of ammunition in the rapid fire of the gun as by the provision of a belt, strap or other missile carrier adapted to be caused to travel in a manner representative of the action that actually takes place in a practical gun.

An important feature is that the belt or strap is wound upon a rotary member such as a reel in the firing of the gun. The rotary member is driven by the spring motor. A still further feature is that the belt or stra serves for winding the spring motor as it is withdrawn after afeeding operation has ensued. In the preferred form of the invention the belt is composed of two strips, one of which has imprinted thereon representations of the bullets proper and is wound on the rotary member. the other has imprinted thereon representations of the cartridges and passes through the gun to give a more realistic elfect of the discharge of the bullets.

Having recounted the major objects of the invention, other objects will be apparent from the ensuing description.

The accompanying drawin illustrates the selected embodiment of the invention in which:

Fig. 1 isa top plan view of a machine gun in which a part is broken away to show th mechanism to better advantage.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the gun.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section of the body thereof showing the operating mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 3. t

Fig. 5 is a detail of the detent mechanism which is operated by the trigger, and Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail showing the slide fastener mechanism of the belt.

In the illustrated emodiment of the invention there is depicted a machine gun of the class in which the bullets are carried through the firing chamber by means of a belt which is fed automatically. In carrying out the invention the gun is provided with a suitable body having a barrel 8 and a handle 9, between which is a chamber I [I that houses the operating mechanism which is under control of a trigger l I.

. The ammunition belt or strap I2 is preferably athin flat length of pliant material such as fabric, but it is conceivable that it might be otherwise fashioned as of a chain composed of linked plates and therefore the term belt as hereinafter referred to is intended to include any comparable device by which ammunition is fed into the firing chamber of a gun. The ammunition is represented on the belt preferably in a pictorial manner as by its being imprinted thereon in order that it may not detract from the flexibility of the same. The belt is divided substantially throughout its length into two parallel strips l3 and I4 united at one end which is supplied with a ring I5 or other pull element adapted to be readily grasped manually. Along the length of the strip 13 the bullets proper are delineated, as at It, and along the length of the strip I4 the cartridge portions of the bullets are delineated. as at IT. The .belt is led into the chamber l9 through an aperture 18 at one side thereof having approved guide means l9 over which it may slide. The end l5 projects from this side of the chamber which is the feed side.

The strip l3 of the belt has its remote end connected about a rotary device 20 for winding thereon in the firing of the gun. The rotary device is shown as a reel and is of a capacity to enable substantially the full length of the strip I3 to wind thereon, The strip l 4 extends through the chamber ID to the opposite side thereof by means of an aperture 2| and its free end is supplied with a weight 22 which applies light tension thereon to assure of its feeding out of the aperture in the winding operation of reel aforesaid.

The reel is connected by a shaft 23 to the main spring 24 of a conventional clockwork 25 so th'at it may be driven clockwise thereby. The clockwork has suitable gearing 26 connected to an escapement mechanism comprising an escape wheel 21 and an arbor 28 provided with the usual two pallets 29. The escapement regulates the speed at, which the reel is driven. The spring is.

supplied with a ratchet device for the windin thereof, which is indicated only in a general Way at 30 since it is of a well known construction It will be gathered by this construction that when the reel is turned by the sprin 24 of the clockwork the strip I3 winds thereon and thus draws the belt inwardly through the aperture 18 to represent the feeding of the live ammunition into the gun. Simultaneously the strip l4 travels out of the aperture 2! at the opposite side of the chamber under the pull of the weight'22 and thus simulates ejection of the empty cartridges from the rounds that have been fired.

The escape arbor 28 has an arm 3| terminating in a head 32 to provide a striker vibrated by the escape wheel concurrently with. the feeding of the ammunitionin the firing of the gun. The striker or vibrator is arranged to hit against a resonant element 33 which in the present instance is a wall of the chamber II), but of course another element might be employed for this purpose, such as a sound board within the chamber. The impingement of the striker against the wall of the chamber produces reverberations representing the rapid fire of the gun, so that the chamber serves as a sound box as well a a housing for the operating mechanism.

The spring motor. i normally locked'against operation by means of a detent device which may be of any suitable construction. For instance there may be provided adetent 34 slidably supported in the frame of the clockwork and having a finger 35 projected into restraining engagement with the striker-arm by a compression spring 36. On depression of the detent 34 the finger 35 is disengaged from said arm thereby setting. the motor in operation. The detent is depressible by the trigger which is devised for operation by a pull action, although it could be constructed to operate with a push movement without departing from the spirit of the invention. The trigger is shown as a rod member having its inner end pivotally united to an end of a rocker plate 31 which is pivoted intermediate of its length, a at 38, to a support 39. The other end of the rockerplate is positioned to depressthe detent when the trigger is pulled. 1 Acoil spring 40 restores the trigger to its normal position when released. It will be manifest that by the use of the trigger the motor can be run continuously or intermittently until the stored energy of the spring 24 is dissipated.

Thebelt [2 serves to restore the spring for which purpose it is withdrawn by the ring when the ammunition has been fed. This withdrawal also restores the belt to its initial position ready for the next feeding operation of the ammunition. I

It is desirable that the two strips 13 and M of the tape be detachably secured together at the feed side of the chamber R0 for the sake of appearance and also for assuring of smooth operation. To achieve this they are provided with interlocking meansat their inner edges as denoted at M. means is composedof separable elements of a conventional slide fastener of which the stringers are constituted of the flexible strips l3 and Ill. The slide, indicated at 42, is immovably attached to the chamber 10, as by the member 43, and

It will be seen that the interlocking 4 cated at the feed side of the reel so that as the tape is drawn in by the reel the slide 42 will separate the strips or stringers at a point in advance of the reel to enable the one strip to wind thereon and the other to travel through the chamber to the discharge side thereof.

From the preceding description it will be manifest that the invention provides an exceedingly intriguing toy in which the operation of the trigger serves to release the mechanism for feeding the belt on which the pseudo ammunition is carried and for actuating the sound producer which simulates the rapid fire of thegun.

While I have disclosed a practical embodiment of the invention it will be understood that such changes and modifications may be resorted to as come within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

a What I claim is:

1. In a toy gun, a casing forming a firing chamber provided with side openings, a reel therein, a spring motor having a shaft connected to its spring, said shaft being secured to the reel for turning it, an escapement geared to the shaft to regulate the speed of operation, a ratchet device for preventing retrograde action in the Winding of the spring, a yieldable detent device. normally precluding operation of the spring motor, a trigger for disengaging the detent to set the motor in operation, and a belt having rounds of am munition represented thereon, said belt having a connection with saidreel whereby it is trans:- ported through said side openings from one side to the other of said chamber to represent the feeding of ammunition. I I r 2. In a toy gun, an apertured casing forming a firing chamber, a reel therein, a driven mechanism for the reel having a trigger control, an ammunition belt extending transverselythrough the apertured casing, said belt comprising two strips of flexible material having interlocking elements at their inner edges and a slide fastener for fastening and unfastening said elements, one of said strips being attached to the reel for winding thereon and the other strip being extended completely through said casing,.the strip which is attached to the reel having represented thereon the bullets proper of the ammunition and the other strip having represented thereon thecartridges of the bullets whereby the effect of discharge of the ammunition is simulated as the belt travels in a feeding operation, and. means for securing said slide fastener at the feed side of said reel. I

3. The combination in a toy machine gun, of a gun body, a vibratory sound producing element, a mechanism to vibrate. said element, a resonant member against which said element is adapted to strike, a spring motor for said mechanism, a rotary device connected to the spring of said motor, a tape connected to said rotary device for winding thereon in the operation of the motor whereby reversemovement of the tape is operative to restore the energy of said motor spring. I r

4. In a toy machine gun, a gun body provided with an apertured chamber, a vibratory sound producing element, a mechanism to vibrate said element, a resonant member against which said element is adapted to strike, a movableammunition carrier having rounds of ammunition represented thereon and extending into said chamber, a rotary device for transporting said carrier through the chamber from one side to'the other thereof in a manner to 'simulateth e feedsented thereon and extending into said chamber, a rotary device within said chamber for transporting said carrier in a manner to simulate the feeding of ammunition to said apertured chamber, a spring motor for said mechanism and for said rotary device adapted to be energized by retractile movement of said carrier, and a. trigger controlled mechanism for rendering said motor inoperative, the structure being characterized in 7 that the carrier is a split belt of which one part has represented thereon the bullets proper and is Wound on the rotarytdevice in the feeding operation and the other part has represented thereon the shells of the ammunition and is fed completely through the chamber from one side to the other thereof.

SQUIRE-BINKS. 

